Matthew 24:9-12: Delivered up to Death

“You will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake,” Jesus in Matthew 24:9.

“Mr. Dickason, you are advanced in years now, and …soon you will be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours.”  (John Paton to a Christian who objected to Paton going as a missionary to the South Sea Islands.  His objection was summarized: “You’ll be eaten by cannibals!” John Paton’s biography: Missionary to the New Hebredes, p. 56) 

 “My body is theirs to do what they want with.” (Sayed Musa, in a letter from a Kabul prison to the Sunday Times, February, 2011.  Musa is a Christian and is told he will be hanged unless he converts back to Islam.)

As Jesus sits on the Mount of Olives, He is discussing with His disciples “signs” of the “close of the age” (Matthew 24:3).   For the next two chapters, Jesus gives the “Olivet Discourse” describing the end times. 

These are several bleak verses.   Jesus’ message is that the world will become a more violent and difficult place to follow Him as time moves toward the end of the age.   Many of the things that Jesus has said thus far “are but the beginning of birth pains” (24:8) and deal with events on a broad world-wide scale: things such as wars, rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes (24:6-8).   But now as He speaks to His disciples, it gets personal.  

Jesus promises difficult days for those who wish to follow Him: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake,” (v.9).  Church historians tell us that the twelve disciples died for their faith.  Only John survived to be an elderly man, but not without attempts made to kill him.    Yet Jesus’ words were not only for His disciples but for all Christians at all times. 

 From the Book of Acts through church history to modern times and on through Revelation, Christians have and will be, delivered, put to death and hated because of Jesus Christ.    The World Christian Database, a part of Gordon Conwell Seminary, reports that on average over 170,000 Christians are martyred each year.  It is no wonder that those weak in their faith, if they are even of the faith at all, “will fall away” (v.10).

Jesus says that this hatred will not just be toward Christians.    But people will “betray one another and hate one another,” (v.10).  It will be dark times spiritually and from that void “false prophets will arise and lead many astray.    And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold,” (vv.11-12).

Atheist Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) proclaimed that "God is dead,” meaning that God is no longer the dominant influence in Western Society.   He then predicted that consequently the 20th century would be the bloodiest in history. Nietzsche was right; the 1900s was the bloodiest century ever.   The birth pains increase.

Why do we shudder when Christ says His followers should expect to be delivered up to death?  Death should surprise no one; it is the one curse that finds us all.  If we shudder at death, do we likewise rejoice that our eternal destiny is glory?  Since we will forever be with the Lord, is the crowning achievement of our lives to live long enough to retire? Or do we serve Him and take great risks with our lives until He calls us to Himself?   

I was recently talking to a friend who is serving in a very oppressive Muslim country as a missionary.  When I asked him about the danger, he said, “And wait for cancer to get me?”   May we show the world that the value of our Lord Jesus Christ is greater than any earthly treasure.  He is worth living for and He is worth dying for.  

Matthew 24:3-8: “See that no one leads you astray.”

“All these are but the beginning of the birth pains,” Jesus in Matthew 24:8

“This is fact! May 21, 2011 is the day of the Rapture, it is the day that Judgment Day begins...” (Harold Camping, Topics from the Open Forum)

“One of the greatest temptations in times of difficulty is to follow blindly any self-proclaimed savior who promises help.”  (D.A. Carson, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 497)

Verse 3 begins what is known as the “Olivet Discourse,” where Jesus speaks of things to come.  The Olivet Discourse runs through the end of chapter 25.   In the other two synoptic gospels, the Olivet Discourse is found in Mark 13 and Luke 21.  

It is no mere coincidence, I believe, that the setting for Jesus to talk about His return is on the very mountain, the Mount of Olives, where He will touch down when He returns.    The prophet Zechariah says, of the return of the Lord, “On that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west…” (Zechariah 14:4)

As He sat, the way teachers did in that day (see Matthew 5:1), the disciples came to Him privately (v.3).  Mark 13:3 adds it was the inner core of disciples who came to Him:  Peter, James, John and Andrew.   They ask Him a flurry of questions: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (v.3)

Jesus begins with His over-arching theme: “See that no one leads you astray.” (v. 4) “I’m telling you now,” Jesus seems to say, “so that when all of this happens, you will not be surprised.”  “For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.” (v. 5) An act done “in the name of Christ,” does not imply that it is a godly act.   Those condemned at judgment will respond, “Did we not do many mighty works in Your name?”  (see Matthew 7:22). 

False Christs have been part of the landscape since the beginning.  Warnings of wolves in sheep’s clothing are part of New Testament teaching:  from Jesus (see Matthew 7:15), to Paul (Acts 20:28-30), and John (1 John 4:1-3).   The early post-New Testament church had to confront men such as Marcion and Arius who taught heresies that led many astray.   

The church of the middle Ages became evil and corrupt, condemning and killing many saints, including Tyndale, Wycliffe, and Huss.   Such cults as Mormonism and Jehovah Witnesses have been active for over 100 years.  My generation knows the names of false Christs such as Koresh, Applewhite, Whisenant and Camping.   My wife and I have read reports from missionaries in China who speak of false Christs infiltrating the church and leading believers astray into various cults.

Jesus continued: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not alarmed for this must take place but the end is not yet.” (v.6)  In one sense these occurrences seem more frequent.   Technology has brought images directly to our computers confirming that “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” as well as “famines and earthquakes in various places.” (v. 7)   However, these tragedies have happened with regularity since Jesus spoke these words.   “All of these are but the beginning of the birth pains” (v.8) and signs that we live in a fallen world.  

 When someone in Jesus’ name makes a spectacular claim, we need to be like the Berean Christians, “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).  When we hear of great tragedy, we must remember Jesus warned us not be alarmed, the end is not yet (v. 6).   We should learn from Psalm 1 and meditate on and delight in God’s law day and night.   Then, even in times of deception and world-wide upheaval, we will bear fruit.

Matthew 24:1-2 “Not One Stone”

“There will not be left … one stone upon another.”  Jesus, speaking about the temple, Matthew 24:2

It is impossible to overstate the role of the temple in the Jewish mind. The temple was the meeting place between God and man.  It represented the atonement, the sacrifice and the priesthood…To say the temple would crash was to say the nation would crash.  (Max Lucado, And the Angels Were Silent, p. 117)

You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.  (Mattie Ross, the 2010 movie, True Grit)

The setting for Matthew’s gospel has been the temple since Jesus entered it in 21:23.  Now He has left it.  “Elvis has left the building” and Jesus has left the temple (v. 1).   But unlike Elvis, Jesus will not return to the temple for an encore.   This is reminiscent of when the Spirit of God deserted the previous temple in 586 BC before it was destroyed (Ezekiel 10:18-19; Psalm 79:1).  Seventy years later Ezra rebuilt the temple (Ezra 6:1-5) and it was refurbished by Herod in 10 BC.

On the road going away (v.1) from the temple, probably to Bethany where He lodged (Matthew 21:17; 26:6), His disciples came to point out to Him the buildings of the temple (v. 1).  One of the disciples said to Him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and wonderful buildings!” (Mark 13:1).  Jesus replied to them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” (v.2)

Jesus gives a dramatic prophecy here.  The Jewish historian Josephus in his work Wars of the Jews records its fulfillment in AD 70 when the Roman general Titus laid siege to Jerusalem and burned and destroyed the temple.   

Many Bible scholars believe that Matthew 24:2 is good evidence for an early date for Matthew’s gospel.  Matthew wrote with a pattern of prophecy and fulfillment (1:22-23; 2:4-6; 2:15; 2:17; 3:3; 4:14-16; 12:17-21; 13:14-15; 14:35; 15:7-9; 21:4-5; 21:16; 21:42; 22:43-44).  But here He merely gives the prophecy, the destruction of the temple, without its fulfillment.  This makes perfect sense if Matthew wrote his gospel prior to AD 70. If the date was later, then why would he not record the fulfillment of such a dramatic prophecy?  A pre-70 AD date for Matthew’s gospel, as opposed to a date decade or even centuries later,  adds credibility to the eyewitness claims of Matthew and adds validity to its historicity.

There are at least 3 reasons why the Lord destroyed the temple.   First, it was judgment on the nation of Israel for its idolatry and hard-heartedness, just as the Lord had done with the previous temple 620 years earlier.   Second, the sacrificial system that the temple housed soon will no longer be needed.  With the temple sacrifices “there is a reminder of sins every year.   For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:3-4.  See Hebrews 10:11; 9:6-7).   But now “the Lamb of God” has come “who takes away the sins of the world!” (John 1:29). 

      

Another reason that the temple is not needed is that it is no longer the primary place where man communes with the Spirit of God (John 4:21,23).  The death of Jesus ushered in the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15-18).  In the New Covenant, unlike before, His Spirit dwells within all believers, a truth prophesied in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 11:12, 18:31, 36:26; Jeremiah 31:33).  Our body is now the place where God and man commune (1 Corinthians 6:19).   As wonderful as this is, the New Covenant truth of the indwelling of God, is merely a shadow of yet an even greater reality to come!   

In the Age to Come, in the New Jerusalem, the temple will not exist there either for “the dwelling place of God is with man” (Revelation 21:3) because “its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb,” (Revelation 21:22).  We will no longer see in a mirror dimly but worship and commune with the Lord face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12)!    Truly this will be the blessed climax of existence for all who love His appearing (2 Timothy 4:8)!   Hallelujah! 

Matthew 23:37-39: “God: Abounding in Love, Punishing the Guilty”

Rembrandt's painting of the prophet Jeremiah lamenting the first destruction of Jerusalem approximately 586 BC.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!  …How often would I have gathered your children together…and you would not!” Jesus in Matthew 23:37

You don't see the spectacular love of God until you see the spectacular holiness of God..If you soften your view of God's holiness, then what the cross achieved also is weakened."  (Dr. D.A. Carson, God: Abounding in Love, Punishing the Guilty; Lecture given May 12, 2011)  

But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,  and with His wounds we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6 ESV)

“Jerusalem, the city which missed its moment of destiny.”  (P.W.L.  Walker, New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, p. 591)

In one of the most poignant moments in all of Scripture, Jesus finishes His condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees with a heartfelt lament over the city of Jerusalem and the people of Israel.  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” (v.37) Jesus cries, using the double name.   In times of great emphasis Jesus doubles the name of the person to whom He is speaking:  Martha (Luke 10:41), Simon (Luke 22:31) and Saul (Acts 9:4).   David also used this same pattern when crying over his son Absalom (2 Samuel 19:4).

Our Lord never glosses over or merely dismisses sin.  Rather, He faces it head on.    Here He speaks the truth in love regarding Jerusalem: “who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!” (v.37)  This statement looks backwards into the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 36:15-16; Hebrews 11:37) including such prophets as John the Baptist (Matthew 14:10).  It also, as mentioned in the previous devotion, points forward to the apostles and the early church in the Book of Acts (Acts 5:40; 7:60; 9:2; 12:2; 14:19; 2 Corinthians 11:23-27).   And of course, it is merely days until they kill the Sent One from God (Zechariah 2:9).

Yet the Lord promises His blessing and reward on those who suffer for His sake, from Bible times till the culmination of the ages (Matthew 5:10-12).   For if they kill the King of Glory, then how much more shall we expect suffering as well (John 15:18)?  

Yet our Lord shows His tender heart and His desire for Israel: “How often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (v. 27).  And our Lord, always the gentleman, does not force His children into compliance.  He took a step back and observed, “and you would not” (v. 27).   

As the Lord, abounding in love, gives plenty of opportunity for repentance, He will also punish the disobedient when those calls are repeatedly ignored.   Jesus promises Jerusalem, “See, your house is left to you desolate” (v. 38).  The desolation of Jerusalem was fulfilled in AD 70 when the Roman general Titus destroys the city.   Over 1 million died, according to Jewish historian Josephus.  

This is not the first time that Israel ignored the call of the Lord to repent.  Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord said to Israel, “I spoke to you…but you did not hear and I called you but you did not answer,” (Jeremiah 7:13).  And consequently this is not the first time the Lord destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.  In 586 BC Nebuchadnezzar destroyed both (2 Chronicles 36:17-19). 

Jesus ends Matthew 23 with this stern promise: “for I tell you, you will not see Me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’” (v.39).  Granted, this cry was given when Jesus entered Jerusalem just days before (Matthew 21:9) but it was not from hearts that understood and worshiped (Matthew 21:10).   This promise will not be fulfilled until the Second Coming of our Lord when “the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem” will have the Spirit of grace poured out upon them (Zechariah 12:10).  And with that statement, our Lord left the temple (Matthew 24:1) to never enter it again

If these judgments for not repenting come upon Israel, of whom the Lord saw as a son, (Hosea 11:1; Exodus 4:22), how much more will they apply to us, the wild olive branches who have been grafted into the olive tree (Romans 11:19-21)?   Yes, God is a God of love.   But He is also a God of wrath on the unrepentant.  It is the same God in both the Old and the New Testament who is abounding in love and punishing the guilty.   And praise God for our Lord Jesus Christ, who took upon Himself the wrath of God destined for us (Romans 5:9).  Let us humbly learn from Israel and give ourselves fully to the grace of God. 

Matthew 23:34-36: His Blood: Our Guilt and Our Salvation

“…I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify…” Jesus in Matthew 23:34

 “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” (Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956)

Jesus continues in His revealing of the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees.   Jesus receives no points for political correctness. Rather, He peers deeply into human hearts and proclaims the truth about man.  Jesus can do this; He is the Judge who will preside over the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).   We as humans must take a backseat when it comes to judging the hearts of others.  Discern, yes; judge, no.

Jesus says, “Therefore I send you  prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town” (v. 34).    This is fulfilled with John the Baptist (Matthew 14:10) and in the Book of Acts:  Peter and the Apostles (5:40), Stephen (7:60), the church (9:2), James (12:2), Paul (14:19, 2 Corinthians 11:23-27), etc.  And it will be fulfilled when they deliver up the King of Glory to be crucified. 

Also, notice the Christology of Jesus’ words “I send you” (v. 34).  If our Lord was a mere man, He could not have uttered those words.   Yet our Lord reveals He is beyond human, beyond space and time, with those simple words:  I send you.

Even though the scribes and Pharisees thought they were so righteous that they would never shed blood (23:30), they were guilty of the blood of a whole generation of prophets, including the Prophet, Priest and King.   Therefore on them will come all the righteous blood shed on earth (v. 35).   From A to Z, from Abel to Zechariah (v. 35), from the first murder (Genesis 4:8-11) to the last murder recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), they are guilty.  

The phrase son of Barachiah (v. 35) is a difficulty since the Zechariah who was recorded as murdered in the court of the house of the Lord (2 Chronicles 24:21) is listed as the son of Jehoiada, not Barachiah.   A different Zechariah is recorded as the son of Barachiah (Zechariah 1:1).   Bible scholars have many possible solutions to this difficulty.   One of them is that Zechariah was a popular name in Biblical times.  Unger lists twenty-nine different Old Testament characters that had the name” Zechariah” (The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, pp. 1380-1381).  Also, one of the oldest and most reliable manuscripts of Matthew (i.e., Sinaiticus) omits son of Barachiah, giving possible evidence of a later scribal error. 

And just days later when the people of Jerusalem cried, “His blood be upon us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25), they prophesied against themselves.  For a generation later the Roman siege of Jerusalem killed over 1 million people, according to the Jewish historian Josephus.   Those things did come upon this generation (v. 36), just as Jesus said.

Rembrandt’s (1606-1669) masterpiece, The Raising of the Cross, hangs in the museum Alte Pinakothek in Münich.   This painting depicts the crucifixion of Christ.  Interestingly out of place, Rembrandt painted into this picture a man in a blue painter’s hat raising the cross.   Francis Schaeffer in How Should We Then Live?  (p. 98) explains:  “That man is Rembrandt himself – a self-portrait.  He thus stated for all the world to see that his sins had sent Christ to the cross.” 

This passage from Matthew 23 has been the basis for much heretical hostility toward the Jewish people over the centuries.   But all of us are guilty of the blood of Jesus.   If we blame others for the crucifixion of Jesus without implicating ourselves, then we prove we are in darkness and outside of His salvation.   Like Rembrandt, may we all humble ourselves before the cross, realizing that His blood is on us.   As we acknowledge our culpability, His blood on us no longer condemns us; rather it justifies us before God (Romans 5:9).   What an awesome God we serve!

Rembrandt's "Raising of the Cross"

Matthew 23:27-33: Are We Whitewashed Tombs or Walking the Walk?

“you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”  Jesus to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:33

"One of my biggest concerns was how people use…their religion as a banner…They go, 'I'm a good Christian…and this is the way you should live your life.' And I'm like, do not give me a lecture on how to live my life when you go to church every week, but I know you're still sleeping around on your wife.”  (Sandra Bullock explaining why she initially rejected the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy, a born-again Christian, for the movie, The Blind Side;  www.crosswalk.com, Nov. 16, 2009)

“Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature…For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

It is days before the crucifixion of Christ and Jesus is proclaiming the sixth woe to the scribes and Pharisees, (v. 29).  These hypocrites have polluted the Law of Moses and are trying to destroy Jesus. It is also days before the Jewish feast of Passover (see Matthew 26:2).   It had become a regular practice to have the tombs whitewashed and thus outwardly appear beautiful.  But still within they were full of dead people’s bones.  The hope is no one would accidentally touch the tombs and become guilty of uncleanness (v. 27) and thus be unable to participate in the Passover (see Numbers 19:16). 

And Jesus, being the Master Teacher, takes this scene, which was very familiar to His Jewish audience, and uses it to illustrate a spiritual reality.  He says that like the whitewashed tombs, the scribes and Pharisees outwardly appear righteous to others but within are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (v. 28).   Imagine hearing that if you were a Pharisee!

Jesus continues with the seventh woe of chapter 23:  “For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘if we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in the shedding the blood of the prophets’” (v. 29-30).  However, contrary to the opinion of the Pharisees, the gospels record several occasions when the scribes and Pharisees sought to destroy and kill Jesus (Matthew 12:14, Mark 11:18, Luke 4:29, John 8:59).  And very soon they will be successful in crucifying Him.    Therefore Jesus says, with a taste of the prophetic, “Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets” (v. 31). 

Thus the hypocrites among the scribes and Pharisees will fill up then the measure of the wrath of God poured out on their fathers (v. 32) because of their disbelief, idolatry and bloodshed (see 2 Chronicles 36:15-19; Ezekiel 9:3-11).   This prophetic command to fill up then the measure of your fathers was fully realized in Jerusalem in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed the city and killed over 1 million of its occupants (Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, VI.9.3). 

Jesus then calls the hypocrites of the scribes and Pharisees serpents (Genesis 3:1) and a brood of vipers (Matthew 3:7).  A common way for farmers of that day to rid themselves of these poisonous snakes was to start a grass fire.  The vipers, trying to escape, would be consumed by the fire. Jesus, using that imagery, asks rhetorically, “How are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (v. 33).  And, according to the New Testament Jesus, hell is a very real place. 

The danger in a passage like this is that we may put ourselves above the scribes and Pharisees; we want to think we would believe in Jesus from the first miracle if we lived then.  Not necessarily true.  We are of the same nature as they.   The sins of the Pharisees and scribes are our sins; their woes, our woes.  How often do we put on our “Sunday best” to go to church yet have unconfessed sin in our heart?   The warning of being a whitewashed tomb still applies to us today. Only through God’s grace through the atoning work of Jesus on the cross do we escape being sentenced to hell (v.33).  

The movie The Blind Side is based on a true story of a Christian family adopting a homeless boy who goes on to play football in the NFL.  After rejecting the role, Sandra Bullock hesitatingly decided to meet the real life Leigh Anne Tuohy in person, the main role in the movie. Sandra saw that Leigh Anne’s faith was genuine.  Sandra changed her mind, took the role and said, “I finally met people who walked the walk.”  Are we whitewashed tombs or are we walking the walk?